Claire Boucher has explained in interviews that "Oblivion" was written about an experience with assault. In the fall of 2011, Allison Crutchfield also released an empowering song about street harassment, Swearin's demo "What a Dump".

I read that the lyrics are about assault and feeling unsafe on the street alone, and I thought that was a really great topic that I felt politically aligned with. I’ve written about this before, too, and so has Allison. It’s something a feminist punk band would write about, and the juxtaposition of that with electronic pop was really cool to me.